Former Kaizer Chiefs star Collins Mbesuma has given his opinion on why no top-flight striker has managed to scored 25 goals in a single season since he hit that target 20 years ago.
Mbesuma plundered all records when he won the PSL’s golden boot during the 2004/05 season by hitting the back of the net 25 times.
His exploits that season earned him a move to England’s Premier League, where he turned out for Portsmouth.
Since then, no striker has been able to match the Zambian’s tally from that season. Namibian Peter Shalulile got close when he scored 23 during the 2021/22 season for perennial champions Mamelodi Sundowns. And before then, the last striker to score 20 goals was Siyabonga Nomvethe, who did so in 2011/12.
Over the years, strikers’ inability to find the back of the net regularly has left many fans frustrated, and the national team, Bafana Bafana has also suffered.
According to Mbesuma, players are not spending enough time practising the art of goalscoring.
“I used to stay behind with 30 or 40 balls with Senzo Meyiwa, and I was just kicking. Even the players I played with at Pirates can tell you that,” the 40-year-old said on the Izinja zeGame podcast.
“I asked Senzo to stay behind and I wanted to kick the ball. It was every day after training and I made sure I did something with the ball, even when there was no goalkeeper, I would just set a target.
“If you ask the players after training, ‘How many shots did you take on that session?’ Maybe one or none and after the training they shower and go,” the former striker said.
Mbesuma recalled one goal he scored for Zambia against Bafana and Itumeleng Khune that he credited to practice.
“Before I even took the shot, I knew where that ball was going, it was not a fluke because I did it in training,” he went on to say.
“The whole week in training you don’t score a goal, how do you expect to score over the weekend? Already your confidence is down, so you need to stay behind and do 200 balls per week,” he said.
IOL Sport